Ash Khare, the gregarious chairman of the state GOP's northwest caucus, shows why the endorsement of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge means so much for Sen. John McCain's presidential bid in the state's Republican circles. Khare says based on Ridge's judgment alone, he has decided to back the Arizona senator. Ridge is serving as a national co-chair on the McCain campaign and has been talking up McCain to anyone who would listen for the past month. "If Tom Ridge is with McCain, I'm with McCain," the Warren County resident said in an interview Monday. "That is the only thing that there is. If the governor is on board, I'm on board."Khare is one of the most respected grass-roots political operatives in the state and one of only a handful of GOP regional caucus chairs. But the bigger question is will it really matter to have people like him on board a campaign considering Pennsylvania's late primary (April 22) is destined not to matter much in the grand scheme of the '08 race? In other words, do candidates need to scour the state for political support ahead of the primary? Won't folks like Khare jump on the bandwagon and campaign hard for the eventual nominee? Khare had this to say: "As a grass-roots person, you don't just go to the people at the last minute and talk to them. Those days are gone." In other words, he's already talking up McCain in the hope of winning the senator cross-over votes should he win the primary. "If we in Pennsylvania can deliver the 21 electoral votes, we are rocking and rolling then," he said.